Stephanie McMahon: WWE Hall of Fame induction is ‘biggest thing ever in my career’
WWE has defined so much of Stephanie McMahon’s life — and she’s grateful to be taking her place in the company’s Hall of Fame.
A new episode of McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast debuted today with her husband Paul “Triple H” Levesque interviewing her about her upcoming Hall of Fame induction. He asked McMahon how it feels to be going into the Hall of Fame.
“My God, it feels — it’s such an honor,” she responded. “And I’m so grateful. It’s the biggest, I never, ever imagined it. And it’s just the biggest thing ever in my career. And, you know, I’m really proud.”
Levesque feels McMahon is one of the most deserving people who could ever join the Hall of Fame. But when she was surprised with the news, Levesque could tell that McMahon couldn’t understand why she was being inducted. McMahon addressed whether she’s come to accept that she’s worthy.
“Well, I don’t know that worthy is a word I would use. But like I definitely am accepting and I’m in such a great place and I’m so excited and I’m just so grateful,” she said. “You know, that’s the thing. It’s like, no matter what happens in WWE moving forward, this has been my life. And I’m so grateful to have had this remarkable, incredible life surrounded by these characters and people who are probably the most honest sort of truthful versions of themselves, right? Because when you’re on the road with people and I don’t know, I love our community.”
McMahon said she’s gone through several iterations of the draft for her speech and has written it in pieces, remembering new things throughout the process. People within WWE have told McMahon that they were struggling to put together the video package for her induction because it has to encapsulate nearly 50 years of history into such a short video.
For McMahon, WWE is the only place she’s ever wanted to work, calling it the “best business in the world.” She loves that she’s gotten to do so many things over the years both on-screen and behind the scenes.
“So to have had all of this, you know, this is my world,” McMahon said. “WWE is my actual world and always has been.”
Levesque became emotional toward the end of the podcast while discussing how deserving McMahon is of her induction. He credited McMahon for making WWE a family instead of a cutthroat, Wild West-type business.
“There’s very few people that I could look at and say deserve it more. Like, truly. I don’t say that because you’re my wife. I don’t say that because it’s you. I say that because of your accomplishments and what we’ve done and, you know, the things you’ve accomplished and especially the stuff that you’ve accomplished that people don’t even see,” he said.
“People come along and participate in the business. People come along and add to the business. Very few people change the business… You put the culture in what we do. It didn’t exist before that. It was just the f***ing Wild West. It’s just what the business was. And then you came in and sort of changed it.”
The 2026 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place in Las Vegas at midnight Eastern/9 p.m. Pacific this Friday night, streaming live on the ESPN app in the United States and on YouTube internationally.
2026 WWE Hall of Fame class —
- Stephanie McMahon
- AJ Styles
- Demolition (Ax & Smash)
- Dennis Rodman
- Sid Vicious (posthumously being inducted as a Legacy Award winner)
- Bad News Brown (posthumously being inducted as a Legacy Award winner)
- WWE Immortal Moment Award: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant from WrestleMania III
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.